Spiral Knights - Guide to heating 5* items

Guide to heating 5* items - Finding Radiants

54 respuestas [Último envío]

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 06:26

Reto-Da-Liz

INTRO
As we all know heating 5* stuff is a pain. Our old heating system was just so sweet... Too sweet to be true.
The new heating system made things a bit harder, but at first it was still quite manageable to heat gear, since Radiant Fire Crystals were pretty common in Stratum 5 and very common in Stratum 6. So one could get a decent amount of Radiants from his/her typical FSC run.
Then the Radiants drought happened... and s**t got real.

People (me included) started cursing OOO for making Radiants so rare to find and 5* gear became insanely hard to heat. I can't imagine what new players are going through...

BUT there is a solution. We know that Radiants can be found at D28, so finding some Arenas or some Danger Rooms at D28 and then "looping" them could be a decent solution.
Ooooor (and this is what I do) you could all run some nice and fun UFSC runs!

INSTRUCTIONS
- Find 3 people willing to run Elite UFSC with you (possibly people capable of getting through the run without too much trouble)
- Find a Shadow Key! Now this is possibly the hardest part, but it's really doable. Don't buy the key from Supply Depot. Never. 1800 ce (which today amounts at about 150-160k cr) is a ripoff! Buy the key from players around Haven. You'll surely find people willing to sell them for 1600 ce or less.
Before writing this part, I actually did a little test and I was able to buy 12 Shadow Keys in 5 days for 1400 ce each or less. Seems doable to me :)
But let's assume that you will pay 1600 ce, which is a pretty regular price for a key.
- 1600 ce/4 = 400 ce and 400 *86 cr = 34.4k cr (math ftw!)
That is how much a SL run would cost you nowadays (with a 4 people party) with ce prices being preeeetty high. The lower the price gets, the more you profit.

OUTCOME
A D18-D23 + UFSC run gives 19-21k cr (the most i ever got was 25k, since i found some arenas). But let's take 20k cr as our number. So from the UFSC run you also get: 6/7 tokens (which is the same as 6/7k cr), materials (with at least 2/3 5* mats which are about 750cr each), minerals (which can be used to make pet food), RADIANTS (about 70/80 per run), and at the end also a Maiden's Tear (which can be sold for 15-20k cr).

Now, if we don't want to count the mats, the minerals, the (possible) Orbs, Grim Sparks, Forge Sparks and Sparks of Life which you might get from the run, you still get a solid 26k cr (20k + 6 tokens) + SL material from the run alone. If you were to sell the Maiden's Tear even for just 10k cr, your total outcome would still be 36k cr.
Now, I always sucked at math, but I'm pretty sure 36 > 34.4

SO, as a final result we get: 70/80 radiants which we need to heat our gear, a slight profit (the lower ce price gets, the higher the profit), an hour of decently challenging PvE and some time with friends.

(All numbers are from an average Elite UFSC run. You might get lucky and find 100 radiants, you might get unlucky and find 50).

FINAL THOUGHTS
Now you can consider this whole thing stupid, and I seriously don't care because my 5* gear is heated, so it's not my problem.
The method works. Stick to it and you'll be able to heat your stuff, don't stick to it and have fun going around with lvl 3 5* gear.

The only part you could argue is the "buying key" process. Yes, it might take some time. What you can do is ask anyone you know: your friends, your guildmates, your LD idols, your LD buddies, the people you often see in Haven... anyone!
You don't have 1400/1600 ce to buy the key? 10 FSC runs is what it gets. Pretty sure anyone can do this.

If you need tips on how to find keys, what gear to bring, what people to bring or you simply want to have a word, feel free to mail me in game. IGN is the same as forum name.

Good luck on your runs!

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 06:54

Fehzor

I did two uFSC runs to-day and got 50 someodd radiants on both of them. I bought the keys for 1800 from supply depot because I hate having to haggle with/find the merchants, which takes forever+is worth giving up 50 CE to avoid (for me). The average seems to be between 55 and 70, with a few over... or, I'm just unlucky. But he's right- my bomb is happily being heated. Finding people to do it is hard if you make them pay though, you might have to carry a few.

------

Also, this isn't a solution to the drought completely! Most newer players are going to have a hard time farming uFSC; if you've been playing the game for a while, you'll be unaffected by the whole "no radiants" thing, but if you're new... oh dear.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 07:02

Shamanalah

my 2 cents

My guild has been heating up like this for the past weeks... efficient (and fun)

But not really practical... like Fehzor pointed out

That is the problem atm... Most vets doesn't care about Radiant drought... we have our 5* heated up already (I heated lots of stuff before the big update came) and TBH, I don't really care my obsidians stays at lvl 1...

I have more problems gathering shinning than Radiant TBH... I leave my 5* untouched so I only use Shinning >.< oh the irony

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 07:09

Reto-Da-Liz

I'd say you're being fairly unlucky, or maybe I'm being lucky.
I did 7 UFSC runs lately and I got less than 70 only once, while I got more than 80 2/3 times (including one with more than 90).
I wish I had screenshots...

I know it can be very hard for newer players, which is why i'm offering help ("If you need tips on how to find keys, what gear to bring, what people to bring or you simply want to have a word, feel free to mail me ") and I know it's not a complete solution. But it's really the best I can think of.

Anyway, thanks for the comments :)

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 07:23

Epic-Samurot

Before there are any

Before there are any complainers saying they can't afford a Shadow Key, I would like to commend this person for taking the time to write this and even do some math.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 07:47

Fehzor

Everyone can afford a shadow lair key as long as they can do the shadow lair and then afterward do the auction house to put the mat up for sale. The issue is that many people can't do either of these things.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 07:54

Bopp

not a solution

Of course, everybody's doing Shadow Lairs is not a solution to the problem, because then the price of those Shadow Lair materials would plummet and the economics would be wrecked again.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 08:17

Exerpa

^This. Unless there is a

^This.

Unless there is a market for premium pet foods out there, the only reason someone would buy a Maiden tear is to avoid doing the exact thing you just told us to do :p

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 08:41

Hellscreams-Forum

Really ?

I rather wait for freaking 1 year for the radiant's update rather than wasting my money on a UFSC run which clearly I've collected all the Shadow Lair's armor sets for some pieces if radiants...If you guys do this till the end, let me tell you that your sparks will be empty before you can even notice during one of your UFSC runs and you can't farm for them that easy....

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 08:57

Fehzor

Even if the shadow lair mats were going cheap, you'd still get the materials... which pay for a good 5K when all is said and done, combined with the fact that you can just make up any difference by going on a single FSC run makes it more than doable.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:05

#10

Hellscreams-Forum

@Fehzor

If what you're saying is true...
¤ Payout for UFSC : 25k cr
¤ Fee for going into UFSC per person : 8750(energy price) × 4.5 (Energy that needs to use for SL divided into 100) = 39375
Not a profit turner....

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:11

#11

Fehzor

I believe Reto-Da-Liz offered to assist you at finding cheap shadow keys, and like I said- you can just farm a couple rounds to make up the difference. I mean, you DO go on other runs, right? I never said it was a profit turner.

Just that it was more than doable.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:13

#12

Hellscreams-Forum

Speechless

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:14

#13

Theirillusion

+1 Awesomeness in thread form.

I can't feel your pain, I have more radiants than I can use.
And no, I can't share, because they are all bound.

BUT, I can offer to help with UFSC if I can come for free.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:22

#14

Hellscreams-Forum

@ Theirillusion

3 words :
¤ You
¤ Are
¤ Addicted

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:23

#15

Reto-Da-Liz

@Hellscream: I posted this to help people. You think I gain anything from writing this? If you don't like the method feel free not to follow it. As I said: "Now you can consider this whole thing stupid, and I seriously don't care because my 5* gear is heated, so it's not my problem."

Regarding the Maiden's Tear's market: this is what has prevented me from posting this thread sooner. If people use their brain they realize it's a pretty decent (and fun) method. But as we can see, not everyone does (luckily), and that is the reason why you can still sell SL mats for a decent price :)

Hi Illu <3

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:25

#16

Canine-Vladmir

Interesting.

Wouldn't it be easier (and techn. cheaper) to just drop 1400 CE for 100 Radiant Fire Crystals?
If the sole purpose is to get Radiant and just Radiant, its better to just buy it from Supply Depot.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:35

#17

Hellscreams-Forum

@ Reto-Da-Liz

I love the idea :) And I even respect you as a great yet kind player :D But the player is gonna waste their sparks like a child eating free buckets of candy and sparks are rare now so you can't farm them this easy...Sooner or later, players gonna act like hobos and beg for sparks...

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:33

#18

Th-Urret

Thanks for the guide reto :)

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:38

#19

Jungle-Sword

@canine: what profit do you make? with SL you make at least a BIT profit
topic: nice thread, but as mentioned before,new people never really do SL, and it isn't easy for them to do FSC either....*sigh*
i think you also get radiants at shadow snarby,why not do that? not as long, and pretty easy too

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:40

#20

Hellscreams-Forum

@ Jungle-Sword

YOU WON'T BE MAKING ANY PROFIT !!!!

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:43

#21

Jungle-Sword

-.-

but at least you get SOME money back... -.-

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:46

#22

Hellscreams-Forum

Did you even look at the past posts ?

Not even close....

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:49

#23

Reto-Da-Liz

Snarby SL gives around 30 Radiants (I did it only twice after the drought, so not too much info) and you get about 9-10k cr for the run.
I would still do UFSC even as a new player. Of course it might be harder to find people if you have to be carried. But personally I don't mind.
Note: I can't carry a party. People like Theirillusion, Vokster, Coolnew, Nalrayi etc (EU players ftw) can CARRY. I can give a decent help, but not carry.

Thanks for the comments everyone :)

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:49

#24

Feyi-Feyi

#voteforbestthread2013.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:51

#25

Fehzor

Even if you weren't making any profit at all, it'd still be worth it to heat your weapons. 450 CE is quite a bit less than 700 CE. And you make back half of it off of just the levels in raw cr; 20K cr for 60 fire crystals? Seems like a good deal to me.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 09:56

#26

Skayeth

Monomi is the one of the Seven Gods of Cradle.

Hmm...Will 20k be worth 60 fire crystals? For rich people it's a blast.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 10:15

#27

Hellscreams-Forum

@ Annilaton

In 2 more month, yes it will definitely be worth 20k cr for 60 Radiants...Even for regular players...

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 10:18

#28

Skayeth

If Hell can scream, and go on the forums, that will be epic.

Yes, and now we will experience the video game Spiral Knights Epic Complaint Forum Battle Brawl 2! Yes, the radiant drought will cause that to happen.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 10:24

#29

Reto-Da-Liz

Try to keep the comments related.
I'd like to see if anyone has better ideas :)

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 10:39

#30

Hellscreams-Forum

@ Reto-Da-Liz

Shouldn't the title be "Guide to forge 5* items" ?

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 10:46

#31

Krakob

@Bopp

Because of obvious reasons i.e. Sparks of Life and lacking skill, not everyone will be doing UFSC even it's the best Radiant Farming method just like O:CH normal speedruns is the best crown farming method but far from everybody has enough Eternal Orbs to craft PMsoS or even O:CH to begin with.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 10:56

#32

Theirillusion

That's because people (at least me) get sick of OCH after just one run. xO

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 12:48

#33

Gianor

How to get radiants:

Wait for them to fix the dam bug, and not have regret about spending hundreds of energy doing shadow lairs just for about 70 radiants.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 13:57

#34

Modicu

Hmm...

As much of a pain as Shadow Lairs have been with me, I have done 3 of them up to this point:

Shadow Gloaming Wildwoods ~ Rabid Snarbolaxes (x 2)
Fireclaw Munitions Factory ~ Red Roarmulus Twins

But this thread does have my attention. I'm one of those peeps who crafted 5* weapons, and unfortunately, failed to realize the trap I was putting myself into, as the Radiant drought is going to lead to any 5* gear being unable to effectively reach its full potential anytime soon. However, I mostly did this for the weapons I have, as the charge attacks are significantly enhanced, and some weapons also receive a buff in status power. (I.E. Upgrading a Blight Needle to a Plague Needle, the chance of poison stays the same, but the upgrade now inflicts strong poison instead of moderate poison.)

But my thoughts revolve around the gear that is highly recommended for this place. I know fire resistance is key here, as well as having curse resistance, as well. (As a Gran Faust user when exploring the Clockworks, I went with the Divine Veil instead of the Grey Feather Cowl, because of curse resistance it provided.) Elemental and piercing weapons, too, I suppose?

Here's what I currently have equipped, or generally prefer:

Weapons: Combuster (Level 2), Divine Avenger (Level 3), Argent Peacemaker (Level 2), and the Strike Needle (Level 10, UV of CTR: Low)
Shields: Crest of Almire (Level 5) or Barbarous Thorn Shield (Level 4, UV of Increased Normal Defense: Medium)
Helmets: Perfect Mask of Seerus (Level 4, UV of Increased Shadow Defense: Medium) or Divine Veil (Level 5, UV of Increased Shadow Defense: Low)
Armors: Skolver Coat (Level 5, UVs of Increase Piercing Defense: Medium & Increased Shadow Defense: Maximum!), Snarbolax Coat (Level 1, just crafted recently, mostly worn as a costume, UV of Increased Stun Resistance: Low), Vitasuit Deluxe (Level 6, UV of Increased Fire Resistance: High) or Vog Cub Coat (Level 7, UV of Increased Normal Defense: Medium)
Trinkets: Gift of Autumn and Glimmering Crystal Pin

So... what would be the optimal choice of a loadout for this kind of place? Or what should I go for?

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 14:09

#35

Leekcoco

It's pretty much the only thing you can do if you want a lot of Radiants at this point. Going to any of the other lairs will result in a much larger loss. Even paying 1800 E for a key, because you get about 70-80 Radiants back on average, consider it a worthwhile investment. If you're not absolutely horrible at this game it only takes one or two runs to know the place like you know FSC. That being said, it's been pretty notorious for disconnections and lag everytime I've been, so you need a nice and patient party of friends in case your net drops the ball so they can get GM help to bring you back.

+1 Reto. :o

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 14:52

#36

Plancker

Ive been doing UFSC often for

Ive been doing UFSC often for this reason (10 or 11 runs in the past 2 weeks). Its fun to do, you get radiants AND you break even with key costs. I still have to level up quite a few of my weapons, but so far I have fully leveled voltedge and fang of vog + my snarbolax set both to lvl 5. Although the amount of radiants Ive been getting per run is much lower than you stated: on average im getting between 50-60; but during the run ive seen them range from 39-89, my personal max was 75. And @hellscream-forums, about the sparks, my first run was with some good players from my guild and I lost only a couple sparks because of it, after doing the run 10 more times I can complete it with only losing my emergency revive once or twice (with a good team) so it shouldnt really be a problem for people willing to learn.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 15:06

#37

Usevnsevnsixfivfor

Maidens' Tears are not even useful... may as well feed them to your pet because Arcane Salamander and Almiran Crusader is scrubby compared to Snarby/Vog/Mercurial Demo. Even the Ice Queen set has two great status resistances for PvP (and sorta for PvE).

Now to bring up this problem: how can knights with lvl 10 4* gear obtain the Radiants if they are not very good at Vanaduke, let alone the SL Vana?

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 15:53

#38

Plancker

They have to train to become

They have to train to become stronger to beat FSC and get the best weapons to help them farm it... they can farm Jelly king, which also has a good payout, to pay for those weapons (blitz/shivermist/brandish). When you farm vana a lot you will also get some radiants to make some cheap level ups to maybe 5* armor at lvl 5 heat. Ive gotten up to 15 radiants in vana runs and you can get them at the last loot chests on D27 aswell as after vanaduke himself.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 22:07

#39

Klipik-Forum

Why does anyone buy Maiden's Tears in the first place?

@U77654: Well, the 4* knights don't need radiants, seeing as they have 4* gear. :P
Once they get 5* gear, though, idk. I have some 5* gear and I've been trying to heat a bunch more, but without doing this it's completely impractical.

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 22:13

#40

Hellscreams-Forum

@ Usevnsevnsixfivfor

Arcane salamander set is worth it...Why ? Because of it extra long elemental/normal defense bar...Enemies deal 5.5 bars on vog and 4 bars on Arcane salamander...

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 22:50

#41

Zipb

@Bopp

Maiden's Tear price has been slowly plummeting ever since more people started doing UFSC. There are always a lot in AH and they hardly get bids or bought out at 10k-12k now.

Also, thanks Reto for this, and for always being helpful! :3

Sáb, 11/30/2013 - 23:20

#42

Blue-Flood

This is pretty awesome Reto.

This is pretty awesome Reto. You just encouraged me to do a few SL runs :)

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 03:37

#43

The-Vindicar

@Reto-Da-Liz:

Thank you for your effort in proving your suggestion, but not everyone is in a strong enough guild to easily gather 3 players skillful enough to survive SL. =(
And as far as I understand, most such guilds require weekly donations, which means you can't just leave the game sitting for a couple of weeks.

Basically, solo players, like me, are screwed.

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 04:18

#44

Reto-Da-Liz

Thanks for the comments everyone!
Of course this is a temporary solution hoping they will fix the bug/add more depths and not every player can experience it to its full potential (due to lack of: skill/gear/friends/anything).
It's a solution I'm giving to those who have the time and dedication to do follow it.

Also, I run UFSC fairly often on EU server with Theirillusion and we often happen to have 1/2 spots open. If you have any interest in joining, hit me up and we can discuss in game :)

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 04:25

#45

Unfair-Ness

How many radiants do you get

How many radiants do you get in a D28 Arena?

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 04:28

#46

Blue-Flood

Anywhere from 3-15 range from what I've seen. Usually the number is lower rather then higher.

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 04:31

#47

Reto-Da-Liz

It's very random. I've gotten 0 before and I've gotten 42 once (42 is the most I got).
Same goes for D28 Danger Rooms.

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 05:06

#48

Theirillusion

As for gear in UFSC:

If you have =>3 weps you don't need extra curse resistance. As long as you dont have negative curse.
The last thing one wants is to have all weapons cursed.

Do you play fsc much? Great, ufsc is very similar except it's a bit harder. Choose the gear you wear in fsc (with the exception of negative curse). Want 1/2 chaos? Use the curse perk from your battle sprite to make up for the loss of curse resistance.

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 09:17

#49

Hellscreams-Forum

This is me....

For UFSC, Deadshot set is the most recommended because of the curse resistant and also the DMG bonus VH

Dom, 12/01/2013 - 09:19

#50

Misty-Wellington

So basically your solution is to do Shadow Lairs.

Thanks for getting my hopes up for nothing.

Buscar

Guide to heating 5* items - Finding Radiants